Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 499 Facing Oneself

"Finally dare to look yourself in the eye, you hypocrite?"

The shadows behind the waterfall had barely appeared when the newcomer displayed extreme aggression.

Sasuke raised his hand and saw the broken lines on his palm. He immediately realized that he had silently entered a spiritual space. Here, apart from the waterfall and the pool at his feet, everything else was white. He paid no attention to the chatter behind the waterfall and, as usual, surveyed his surroundings to confirm that he was not in danger of being exposed.

"What's the point of pretending to care now? If he had listened to Kakashi from the beginning, he would be the one here." Dressed in white, he stepped out from behind the water curtain. They were almost indistinguishable, with little difference in expression, except for the pure black whites of his eyes.

Surprisingly, his sharp tongue couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal. Sasuke simply stood up and habitually placed his dominant hand on his waist. He had almost gotten used to that feeling after so many times before, so the sudden sensation of touching something solid made him pause slightly before putting his hand down again.

He would never forget that in his dream, he used this very sword, along with Chidori, to end Naruto's life. Even after he went to the Pure Land with Naruto and fought to the very last moment to protect Naruto's soul, the death that had already occurred could not be ignored by him.

"What, can't you hold the sword anymore?" Sasuke, with his black eyes and whites, finally showed a difference from his original self. He gripped the hilt of the sword, a provocative smile playing on his lips.

"How can someone as weak as 'me' possibly possess that sun all to myself?"

“No one can do this.” Sasuke spoke for the first time, but even he himself spoke without any confidence.

Naruto is a shining person; his radiance shines without a trace of shadow, illuminating almost everyone around him equally. It's human nature to yearn for light, and it's also human nature to want to be more greedy, but he cannot do that.

He loathed selfless love, yet it was precisely because of this that he couldn't look away. What's the difference between possessing the sun and killing it?

"Is nobody here?" He approached step by step, his figure clad in black. "Listen to your own voice."

“I watched him grow up and saw how those stupid guys attacked Naruto. Now how do they treat me? So affectionately, so warmly, as if we are very close.”

"I've seen many disgusting people, or perhaps calling them beasts would be more accurate. Do I really think this world deserves the sun's salvation?"

Sasuke fell silent again. The Fall of Truth lived up to its name; his defenses were mercilessly breached, exposing the hatred he had been avoiding talking about.

He hated his own weakness and recklessness, which prevented him from seeing Naruto's truest desires. He hated the world's taking from Naruto at will, even after he gave his all and his life, the people's wishes would never bring him peace.

Does this world deserve Naruto's all-out effort to save it?

"The 'me' now walks the path he once walked, and even if not the whole thing, I can still glimpse some of his past. Even if he really comes back, am I just going to watch him return to that kind of life?"

The black version of himself was now face to face with him, and two pairs of scarlet eyes revealed a special six-pointed star pattern, where the power obtained at the cost of Naruto's life was hidden.

He will not go back to that kind of life.

For some reason, a strong sadness welled up in his heart, so strong that he even had the urge to cry, but he desperately held back the bitterness and answered firmly.

"I will be there for him; there's always something I can do."

"Even if he will never belong to 'us'?" the black-clad Sasuke asked, delivering the most devastating blow.

Looking back at Naruto's past, inconsistencies never ceased. A normal child could not possibly learn extremely difficult forbidden techniques such as the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Impure World Reincarnation at a young age, let alone possess the insight and ideals to rival the Hokage of all time.

The idea of ​​"liberating the whole world" had never been proposed before Naruto; most people used the term "conquest." The people of this world blindly worship power, and those who are forcibly united by power will eventually fall apart, only to fall into a vicious cycle of fighting for power.

In truth, the older generation had their doubts about Naruto's origins, but he was a near-perfect leader, possessing not only unwavering conviction but also wisdom and strength. They couldn't bring themselves to question such a person, even if his origins were unusual. As long as he didn't stray from the path to peace, who Naruto was didn't matter.

However, after experiencing several dreams and repeatedly testing Naruto in his mental space, Sasuke had almost confirmed a possibility.

His Naruto is indeed Naruto, only from another... destroyed world.

The moment he reached this conclusion, he questioned whether this world was real, whether it was just a dream belonging to Naruto. In the final moments before Sasuke's consciousness faded in the dream, he clearly sensed the transformation of "Naruto." It was an existence never before seen in history; no one knew if he could still be called "Naruto," nor did anyone know the extent of his potential. To create a dream so real that everyone could have their own independent thought—perhaps that wasn't difficult for "Naruto."

But soon, another dream shattered this possibility. "Uchiha Sasuke" had actually been to this world! To prove that the guy had ever existed, he even went to the battlefield in the dream and quickly saw traces that had not been erased by time.

Therefore, there is only one possibility that would make Naruto abandon a world to come here.

Naruto's original world has been destroyed.

“He belongs to us.” Sasuke closed his eyes and answered with difficulty, “This world has changed because of his existence, and a future that belongs to us has been created.”

"He certainly belongs to us, because he has become a part of us."

The black-clad Sasuke had suppressed his smile and stared intently at him expressionlessly. At the same moment, both of his scarlet eyes went out, returning to complete darkness.

Is that really what you think?

“What I want is all of him.”

As he spoke those words, he had already composed himself and finally mustered the courage to look into his own eyes. He then saw tears welling up in those eyes, the dark depths of their pupils gradually fading, revealing their normal appearance.

"Hmph, I really am an idiot."

The tear fell before "Sasuke" completely dissipated, and Sasuke, who opened his eyes in reality, felt the coldness of the tear dripping onto the back of his hand. He stood up as if nothing had happened, casually wiping away the tear as if he didn't care, and said with a smile, "I passed. It wasn't that hard. Everyone, give it your all!"